1. Field of the Disclosure
The disclosure relates to toys, and more specifically to toy mini-figures depicting sports figures and connectable to toy construction block playsets.
2. Background
Toy construction block mini-figures come in many sizes and shapes. A standardized size and shape has been established by dominance of Lego brand blocks. A standard block, and connector type, allows manufacture of mini-figures for use with the standard block and connector for ready acceptance by consumers. Typically mini-figures are marked as components with painted features in component batches, and assembled into the desired mini-figure by selecting the appropriate component.
Legos and similar building blocks are long existing toys. Initial figurines were scaled to connect to a single tab on the blocks. At that scale, no moving parts were includes, but rather single “blocks” were decorated to appear as figurines.
The original Lego mini-figure can be seen in U.S. Design Pat. No. D253,711 (Christiansen et al., Dec. 18, 1979) and U.S. Pat. No. 4,205,482 (Christiansen et al., Jun. 3, 1980). These mini-figures, about 1.5 inches tall, include a head attached to a torso component, two arm components which pivot at the connection to the torso in the shoulder region, a hip component connected to the bottom of the torso, and two leg components connected to and pivotal from the hip component. Feet are part of the bottom of the legs, with recesses or channels in the back of the legs and bottom of the feet allowing connection to studs from building blocks. Curved hand components extend out of each arm. To create different character mini-figures, different designs, stickers, or coloring may be affixed to different components. Assembling different sets of components based on the same theme may create the appearance of specific characters. Accessories may be held in the hands or connect to the head, such as weapons, tools, hair, hats, or helmets.
Variations have been introduced since the original mini-figure. Larger figures have been created. Themed figures have been created. Specialized components have been created for specific creatures, such as an empty-skeleton torso and related arms and legs for a skeleton. However the shape and points of motion of the mini-figure has largely remained unchanged. This is largely due to the durability and scale needed.